mi vida guatemalteca

I’ve been in country now for a little over two weeks which is still super-new, as I am reminded every time our group meets PCVs who have been here a year or more. Language classes are going well and yesterday instead of a technical training session we went to visit a current volunteer in the Healthy Homes project. It was exciting to see how comfortable she felt in her community and in the work. We visited a school where she had the students make their own shampoo out of water, aloe vera, shampoo concentrate bought in Guatemala City and little bit of salt and fragrance. The students were around 10 or 11 I think and really excited to have us in the class, they let us practice “filleting” the aloe leaves and invited us to play a chaotic game of soccer at recess. They had Kaqchikel words hanging around the classroom and I asked one of the girls to teach me how to say some of them. I’m not sure how well I did but we both laughed when I messed up and I might get the opportunity later to actually learn some Kaqchikel (if that is the language spoken where I am eventually placed).
On Tuesday my host mom made Pepían which is a local specialty and it was delicious! It is meat (beef for mine but I think it can vary) and a sauce made from some special blend of peppers and spices that looks a little like mole. My host family and I get most of our bonding time around the dinner table; after dinner we usually sit and talk for a long time, I’m definitely going to miss them when we get our new locations.
Last Saturday we went together for lunch to Chimaltenango where the youngest daughter goes to school. It is a slightly higher elevation there, it was a little cooler and there were lots of pine trees. It was a beautiful day and we had a picnic outside of her dorm building. My host mom picked up Pollo Campero (kind of like KFC) and brought mangos from home. We didn’t stay long because she had homework but it was fun to see a little more of the country.
We´ll be seeing Guatemala City soon and will be doing field based training in another department (similar to states in the US there are 22 departments in Guatemala).

First post from Guate!

Dear Everyone,

I’ve been here in Guatemala for about two weeks now and things finally slowed down enough to write a bit. I am staying with a host family in a town near Antigua and this will be home until the swearing-in ceremony at the end of July when I become a real Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV)! The next three-ish months are the most intense in terms of scheduled activities, when I’m off on my own without the PC framework it will certainly be more emotionally intense.
I have language class six days a week for either seven or four hours; some days are half language and half technical training. Yesterday and today we spent the afternoon in technical training learning about health statistics in Guatemala and projects Peace Corps has started to combat a few of them. For the first year we will be doing talks to increase awareness in rural communities about basic hygiene and infection-control (hand washing, water purification, food preparation, etc). The water here is so bad we aren’t even supposed to brush our teeth with it and its not only bad for us, Guatemalans aren’t supposed to drink it either because it is so contaminated.
On a more personal note, I already feel like part of the family here. My host mom, dad and three sisters are awesome and so welcoming! I’ve already had a lot of great conversations with all of them except the youngest, who is away at a boarding school all week. My host mom makes great food, tons of corn tortillas, beans, eggs, tamales and sometimes meat and vegetables. A crazy coincidence is their dog—he’s a black lab named Shadow, in English, not Spanish!!
The other PCTs (Peace Corps Trainees) are great, a good support system and they made my birthday a blast. We went up on another trainee’s roof, had cake and tea her host mom brought up, listened to music and watched the sunset. Twenty-three doesn’t feel that old but maybe it’s just the transitioning cultures that makes me feel like a kid again (being led around, learning societal norms, living with a family…). Whatever it is, I feel great here (fingers crossed, the PC Guatemala staff said we’d all get at least a little sick at some point) and am so excited to learn more about “Hogares Saludables” (Healthy Homes). It used to be Rural Home Preventative Health but that is a mouthful, the new name transmits the same basic message with a catchier title. The only thing I miss (beside family and friends!) is a good cup of coffee. The best beans are exported and most Guatemalans drink instant coffee; I almost got misty-eyed on the bus the other day thinking about a good latte from Nicholas’s downtown but then I realized I was getting emotional over a beverage and changed topics (mentally). Well, that is all for now, besos y abrazos de Guate!